Heard of the Palestinian kid who brandished his sword inside the White House, plunging it into President Bush as he screamed: “Ahhh, I killed him”?

He is the latest cartoon character of Tomorrow’s Pioneers, the Hamas TV children’s program sprouting all kinds of weird role models. His predecessors included Farfour, a rodent approximating Mickey who died under Israeli torture; Nahoul, a bomb-laden suicidal bee; and most recently Assud, the militant rabbit whose project is conquering Jerusalem, Jaffa, and Acre to “rid them from the Zionist filth,” as he puts it.

Adult fare isn’t much different when it comes to fiction-mongering across the Arab world.

Al Jazeera, the slickest channel with a daily audience of 50 million, serves a steady diet of anti-Americanism, anti-secularism, and Islamic fundamentalism in which language plays a bridging role, with U.S. forces in Iraq as “occupation troops,” Israelis as “the Zionist enemy,” Iraqi insurgents either “resistance fighters” or “martyrs,” and the Palestinians always “victims.”

Over at Saudi-owned Al Arabia, the next most popular Arabic language TV network, the brainwashing is more focused on the primacy of the ruler. King Abdullah’s only title is “Protector of Islam’s Holiest Sites,” elevating his status to that of an infallible holy. The king’s men, the Saudi royal family, are designated as “Walley-Al-Amr,” roughly translated as father-superior, or adult guardians. They only do well.

Language in Arab and Muslim societies is the monopoly of either the governments that control all media or the religious establishments that control all mosques where, alas, the discourse takes a further dip into nihilism.

A few days ago Sheikh Abdurrahman al-Barak, the most senior among Saudi Arabia’s all powerful theologians, ruled that two Saudi newspaper columnists must be executed. Their crime was to wonder in writing whether the Koranic branding of all non-Muslims as “unbelievers” is good for this day and age. Unless they publicly renounce these “heretical” opinions, his holiness ruled, they must die.

Never mind that branding non-Muslims as infidels in speech and sermons undercuts peaceful coexistence with such inferiors. The edict was a reminder of the girl of Qatif, condemned by the same religious judges last year to 200 lashes after being raped by seven men because “her greater sin” was being out when pounced upon.

As in that case, it will fall upon the “father-guardian” King Abdullah to pardon those wayward journalists just as he did the girl, which leaves them dishonored but alive and the venerable theologians free to issue more quirky rulings.

Back in that Hamas cartoon the boy assassin tells George Bush he is doing it to “avenge” Muslims, but in a Freudian slip extraordinaire, adds he also wants to “cleanse the White House soiled by Bush.” Thus the place from which evil Americans oppress Muslims is secretly the same purist nirvana to which Islamist Hamas aspires. Or is it?

It all highlights a key fault line within the Arab mind: admiration for everything the West has achieved — knowledge, personal freedom, equality of the sexes, modernity, secularism, and the right of individuals to pursue happiness — is rampant among Arabs and Muslims and simultaneously branded a forbidden fruit.

Farfour is a copy of Walt Disney’s quintessentially American Mickey Mouse, a beloved character for Arab kids. But his Palestinian replica comes laden with guilt, furrowed brow, and a duty to cleanse the world of infidels and even so-so Muslims who do not adhere to jihad.

And killing Bush resolves the 100-year-old Palestinian-Israeli problem in one fell swoop. Indeed, instant and effortless solutions to durable problems, which permeate cartoons, have grown as substitutes to realpolitik among adults. For example, at the Arab summit of Damascus in March, kings and presidents issued a final communiqué “warning” Israel they will “abandon peace” as their strategic choice by next month if it does not resolve the Palestinian problem. The only alternative to peace is war. Did they mean to say this or has life become an animated cartoon?

Similarly, thousands of Muslim sheikhs weekly climb onto their pulpits to inveigh for Sharia laws, with their unforgiving punishments — decapitation, stoning, crucifixion, whipping, and separation of sexes — vowing that this one single move will bring an end to all earthly corruption and injustice.

One can fulminate over Hamas’ children’s programs teaching babes how to spill blood, but the bigger misdeed is numbing their minds just as Al Jazeera deadens those of their parents, rendering all unequipped to resolve real problems when they unfold. In the end it all adds up to one gigantic suspension of disbelief.

Youssef M. Ibrahim, a former Middle East correspondent for the New York Times and Energy Editor of the Wall Street Journal, is a freelance writer and Mideast political risk consultant based in New York.

Youssef M. Ibrahim, a freelance writer and risk consultant, is a former New York Times Mideast correspondent and Energy Editor of the Wall Street Journal. He can be reached at ymibrahim2004@yahoo.com.

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1.
Morton Doodslag

Mr. Ibrahim — I have often been scathing in my criticism of your analysis for sanitizing Islam or minimizing the barbarity of Arabdom — however in the above article I think you are much more forthcoming in describing the manifold nightmares which haunt the Arab Islamic world. Until the truth is told about evil, until it is named, evil cannot be confronted and defeated.

What is depressing is that the moderate, secular Arabs who hunger for democracy and economic opportunities, are so marginalised. Yet, in many Arab states, they are the silent majority. Active support and encouragement of this silent majority in the Arabic and international media, instead of focusing on the rantings on Hezbollah and Hamas TV stations, would give them more encouragement to speak their minds and oppose the fanatics.

I am getting so tired of hearing about the “silent majority” of useless, powerless, inactive but apparently oh-so-important-we-keep-them-in-mind Arabs and/or Muslims every time they make a global spectacle of themselves yet again doing something revolting or self-destructive.

I doubt if you could find two more diametrically opposed philosophies than Christianity and Islam. Thanks, but I’ll take the one that teaches self-reliance and intuition (conscience) over the one that makes me take orders from some enraged madman.

A very important theme! But,
why this is almost never said by nobody ?! The W M D are in mind and hearts of thouse like BinLaden, Atta (proofed in HH !), SAddam HuSSein, Hitler, US-and GB-Trotzkysts, Islamists, aryan rassists, pan-slavists (nationalbolshevists/ fascists), — they do not need a conference to drive a common strategy ! They are remote controlled by psycho-ideology !

If more and more americans and europeans do belive in “Loose change” and similar trash, based on (modernised) “protocols of elders of zion”, – the mother of all world-conspiracy speculations faith and propaganda,the islam and nazi haters and terrorists got biggest success, they couldn´t dream about before ! Based on so called “protocols” and some years later on MY FIGHT islamist mixeed up koran and nazi ideology . . .
- Even such kind of paranoid world view led Atta & Co. to WTC — Germany to Holocaust and the jews into an enduring war of letal attacs, in Holy Land pogromes and similar since 1920 by conspiracy beliving islamists, prizing Hitler and educating much of Arafats, supported by special nazi-propagandists and after 1950 by KGB ! And now

more and more by left and other “democrate” antizionists like Carter & Co, espc. academic ones – a catastrophy for democracy ! For expl. in our land ex-ministers from CDU and SPD (!) like von Bülow or Todenhöfer, the last one a chief director of BURDA-trust !

Did no one quote Martin Luther King, who declaired and condammes “antizionism” as the modernised form of antisemitism ?! ?!

While US-soldiers and even ours (german) fight in overseas against terroist and nazi-islam powers, “we” did allow that via our medias, blunder, fantasylessnes, internet propelled conspiracy propaganda and anti(west)imerialism/chomskysm m i l l i o n s of our own people desert to terrorists side !

Do we practise expectant attitude or will we start the fight for and with a new strategy against terrorism, antijews conspiracy faith and islamization ?! Let´s give our soldiers a completion – Let us work together – Let´s roll !
Write to : lets.open.a.new.front.against.terror@online.ms

I am getting so tired of hearing about the “silent majority” of useless, powerless, inactive but apparently oh-so-important-we-keep-them-in-mind Arabs and/or Muslims every time they make a global spectacle of themselves yet again doing something revolting or self-destructive.

Let the Planet face facts. We are at war with Islam. The Koran is the book of Jihad. Wilders exposed it for the hateful manual of killing it is. The truth upsets Muslims as they wallow in lies with the blessing of Islam.
How can anyone with an IQ over room temperature not see that Islam has contributed no positive input to the Planet. Terrorism in the defense of the Palestinians whom they refused to allow to immigrate to Arab Nations.
Has Islam ever produced anything beside hate?
” Respect us or we will kill you!” “Behead those who insult Islam.” As I have said on numerous occasions Ralph Peters columnist for the New York Post summerizes Islam succinctly as “A Junk Yard Dog Religion.” What more does the world have to know?
American Christian Infidel

The eternal disclaimer used by everyone who dares critize Islam is “The major majority of Muslims are “Moderate,Peaceful People”. I tire of hearing that. I feel the sounds of silence from these so called “Moderate Muslims” is the real Terrorism.
Dividing Muslim into Moderates and Terrorists is tantamount to dividing serial killers into groups of moderate killers and vicious killers. Until the sounds of silence are broken by more than the ten Muslims who converted to Christianity or secularism there can be no such word as “Moderate” when refering to Muslims.
Just as it is the duty of a parent to raise their children to become positively productive , it is the duty of Muslims to stand up to the cancer Islam has injected into the minds of their brethern.
American Christian Infidel